


A New Path

by OneOfThoseThings



Series: Nice Things; Good Things [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: A Reckless Mix of Snark and Sincerity, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awesome Donna Noble, BAMF Rose Tyler, Basically fluff with some adventure mixed in, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Huddling For Warmth, Jack being Jack, Jack's backstory is a little angsty let's be honest, Light Angst, Minor Jack Harkness/Rose Tyler, Minor Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Jack Harkness, Minor Metacrisis Tenth Doctor/Rose Tyler, Multi, Not particularly shippy just leading into shippy territory, Pre-Poly, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:53:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26578621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OneOfThoseThings/pseuds/OneOfThoseThings
Summary: Jack joins the new/old team and starts making up for lost time with Rose and the part-human Doctor. Donna doesn't mind at all. The Time Lord minds a little.(A quick recap of key points is handily provided at the beginning.)
Relationships: Tenth Doctor/Donna Noble
Series: Nice Things; Good Things [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1932247
Comments: 32
Kudos: 104





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Previously, on The Series Started by Accident:  
> [Spoilers for 'It Has Been 0 Days Since the Last Incident']  
> > Donna let Rose and the metacrisis Doctor right back onto the TARDIS instead of leaving them in Bad Wolf Bay.  
> > Rose and the metacrisis Doctor paired up neatly and Donna and the Time Lord paired up much less neatly.  
> > And Rose and the metacrisis Doctor thought it would be absolutely gangbusters to add Jack into the mix.

By the time they ventured back out of her room, Donna was starving and even the Doctor was aware that he should probably replenish some electrolytes. 

They made it halfway through two peanut butter and banana sandwiches when Jack’s voice horned in from the doorway, “Well, look who finally decided to rejoin society.”

Donna swiveled around, looking inappropriately pleased to see the handsome American. “I forgot about you!”

Jack smiled, completely unoffended. “I bet you did.” He wagged his brows up and down.

“Jack,” the Doctor enunciated, clicking the ‘k.’

Donna moved like she was going to get to her feet. “You know, I think you still owe me a hug…”

“Donna!” 

Jack laughed holding his arms out. “I could hug both of you. If you’re worried about being left out.”

“Jack!” The metacrisis Doctor and Rose appeared in the doorway as well. “You were supposed to tell us if you found them! So we could all make fun of them together!” 

The Doctor turned to Donna. “We need to grow a second TARDIS.”

Donna ignored him, watching the metacrisis Doctor allowing himself to be tucked into the American’s side without protest. He flicked a glance to the side, probably getting himself a nice view of the square-cut jaw. 

“How’s that human sex drive workin’ out for you?” She smirked. 

He coughed and colored in, but came back with, “Is there some sort of test for sexual deviancy? Because you should take it.” 

Donna shrugged. “No complaints so far.” 

Rose laughed, catching his hand to pull him into the room. “I’ll second that!” 

Jack got pulled in as well, looking unreasonably interested. “I’d like to hear about this test. Is there a practical element?” 

The Doctor pulled out a notepad. “Normally it takes centuries to grow a TARDIS, but we could drop one off, skip ahead and come back for it.”

Donna scooted over in the booth, making room for Rose to slide in. Jack sidled in next to the Doctor and the metacrisis Doctor pulled up a chair at the end. 

“Cozy,” Jack noted, slinging an arm over the Time Lord. 

“We could leave Jack with the new TARDIS. As a guard,” the Doctor continued, trying to shake him off with a wince. 

Donna kicked him under the table. “Don’t be rude!” 

“Donna!” he whined. 

“Now that we’re all up, should we go on a trip?” Rose suggested. “Jack, you could stay for a trip, right?” 

Jack was busy trying to poke the Doctor’s cheekbone, which seemed suspiciously less pale than usual. “This _is_ still a time machine, right?” 

“Time machine with three pilots,” the metacrisis Doctor confirmed. “Half as many as you’re supposed to have, but thrice as many as she’s had to put up with.” 

Jack gave him a charming smile that seemed much more effective on the part-human. “Have to say, I am on board with this Doctor hopped up on human hormones.” He turned his attention to Donna. “Suppose we have you to thank for that?” 

She shrugged. “The Time Lord isn’t _entirely_ useless.” 

“Donna!” the Time Lord in question yelped, and then made a strange jerking motion that pulled his hips back and cracked his ribs into the tabletop. 

Jack craned his neck curiously, trying to get a look under the table. “I don’t remember the TARDIS vibe being nearly this frisky when I was on. Should I be offended?” 

The Doctor shoved his face away with one hand, the other shot under the table. “There are too many human pheromones on this ship! Stop getting each other all wound up!” 

“Rude,” Donna chided. She turned to the other humans. “Isn’t that rude?”

“Maybe we should go on a trip without him,” Rose suggested. “Somewhere human pheromones get the proper appreciation.” 

“In my experience, that’s most places,” Jack drawled, “But I could make some particularly _friendly_ suggestions.” He leaned over and whispered something in the metacrisis Doctor’s ear that made him turn an entirely new shade. 

“Jack!” he yelped, “I don’t think Rose would like that.” 

Rose grinned predatorily. “Well, don’t rule it out on my account. You don’t know what I might like.” 

The metacrisis Doctor skewed a surprised look her way, notably lacking the offended edge that his twin brought in from the other side. 

“Okay, everybody up!” The Doctor jumped to his feet, scrambling over the back of the booth. “We’re all going on a trip! Somewhere cold!” 

* * *

They reassembled in the console room with Rose, Jack, and Donna wearing winter coats. Rose had pulled on a puffer jacket, Donna had relocated her fluffy parka, and Jack seemed to have found a stylish overcoat somewhere. They all looked pointedly at the metacrisis Doctor, still wearing just his blue suit. 

“What?” he asked, tugging his lapels a bit defensively. 

“You need a coat,” Rose said. 

“A proper coat,” Donna added. 

“What?” He scrunched his nose. “I don’t need a coat.”

“You could share mine,” Jack offered. 

Both Donna and Rose looked entirely too interested in that offer for the Doctor’s liking. “Just get something out of the wardrobe,” he suggested. 

The metacrisis Doctor gawked like he’d just suggested he stuff a sock down his trousers. “I don’t need a coat!” 

“Yes you do!” four voices answered. 

He stalked off, grumbling. 

“Do you think you could get the TARDIS to put some gloves in his pocket?” Donna asked the Doctor.

“I’m not a child!” the metacrisis Doctor shouted down the corridor. 

A panel popped open in the console, producing a few pairs of gloves. Donna shoved two in her own pocket and put the rest in the Doctor’s, ignoring his indignant squirming. 

“Aw, now that’s just cute,” Jack said.

“Stop it!” the Doctor ordered. 

Jack turned to Rose. “Is everything always this cute nowadays? I seem to remember a lot less cuddling.” 

Rose put her hands on her hips. “Y’know now that you mention it, there _is_ a lot more cuddling! Should we be offended that we didn’t get this much cuddling when it was just us?”

Jack mirrored her stance. “Y’know _maybe_! Come over here― we’ll show them how cuddly we are!”

“Jack!” The metacrisis Doctor reappeared, yanking on a shearling. “I was gone for _two_ minutes!” 

Jack held out his arms. “You say that like you’re not invited!” 

The Doctor hit the dematerialization switch, knocking them all into the nearest rails. 

“Oi!” Donna cuffed him, pulling a stabilizing rod. “Knock that off!” 

They landed with a lurch. 

The Doctor started toward the door, but Donna caught his hand, looking toward Jack, who slowly realized everyone was staring at him.

“What?” he asked.

“Don’t you want to go first?” Rose asked, like it was obvious. 

Jack blinked, and the faintest vulnerable shadow crossed his features, but in the next beat he was grinning. “Don’t mind if I do!”


	2. Chapter 2

The planet was, as promised, freezing. Thick, fluffy snow coated everything, making them stand out more than usual.

A welcoming party immediately came from the nearby village, taking them in with more than the usual excitement. It turned out that the local council had recently been trapped by something that the TARDIS translated as ‘bears’ that the Doctors both seemed to think was ‘close enough.’ Nevermind that the ‘bears’ were apparently several stories high and possibly made of ice. 

It all came down to the locals not being able to get enough air to navigate the caves themselves. Or possibly there was too much air? Something about the atmospheric pressure that the Doctors were too distracted to explain properly. 

It made perfect sense (in a very loose definition of the word ‘sense’) for the humans and Time Lord to locate the ice bear blocking the way and send up a signal which the locals could use as a target. They were a little unclear on what exactly they were planning to target with, but apparently that answer involved a loud buzzing that gave them all headaches when they tried to work through it. 

So the team went spelunking. 

* * *

Several frigid hours later, they came to a clearing with one side blocked by what seemed to be a breathing wall of ice, several stories high and firmly blocking the way forward. 

“Ah,” the Doctor said cheerily, “That would be the ice bear.” 

“What? How is  _ that _ a  _ bear _ ?!” Donna gestured toward the giant blockade with admittedly few resemblances to an Earth bear. 

The Doctor turned a confused look on her. “They’ve got round ears.” He cupped his hands over his own head, illustrating. 

“You think  _ that’s _ the defining quality of  _ bears _ ?!” she shrieked. 

“Shh!” The Doctors made frantic shushing gestures, looking up the rockface. 

“ _ Sleeping _ bears, remember?”

“Aren’t we here to wake it up?!”

“Do you really want to find out what happens if you  _ startle _ it awake?” 

She snapped her mouth shut, lips pinched together. 

“Well, what’s the plan?” Jack asked, pitching his voice lower. 

The Doctor eyed the distance. “I am now willing to admit that this is not ideal.” 

Donna groaned, “We’re too far from the surface, aren’t we?” 

He eyed the wall of ice. “Possibly. A bit.” He pulled out his sonic and started flipping through settings. “I wasn’t counting on the tunnels being quite so tightly wound. Too many sharp angles for a relay.” 

“Couldn’t you just resonate a more direct path back?” Jack asked. 

“Sure,” the metacrisis Doctor said, “If you’ve learned to breathe underwater. It would flood the cave; we’re well below sea-level here.” 

“Well, what if you headed back up to high ground and let me do it? Drowning’s not exactly a showstopper in my book.” Jack suggested. 

“What, are you part merman?” Donna asked, eying his chest. She turned on the Doctor. “You said we couldn’t go to a planet with mermen because mermen weren’t real!” 

“I said they wouldn’t look anything like the Little Mermaid!” the Doctor corrected, “And you didn’t want to see the ones with fish heads! Which is the more practical evolution, by the way!” 

She pointed a warning finger at him, but turned back to Jack, who seemed uncharacteristically hesitant. 

“Oh,” he said awkwardly, “So you didn’t keep his memories?” 

Donna frowned. “Just the knowledge. Like we’ve read all the same books. Why?” 

Jack grimaced, looking uncharacteristically embarrassed. “I’m… slightly… immortal.” 

“You’re  _ what _ ?!” Surprising everyone, the question came from two sides― both Donna and Rose.

Jack looked at Rose, startled, and the Doctors looked at each other. 

Donna turned on the Time Lord. “What did you do?” 

He sputtered. “ _ I _ didn’t― What makes you assume  _ I _ did  _ anything _ ?!” 

She gestured vaguely at, well, everything. 

“It wasn’t the Doctor,” Jack said, and then muttered, “Not that he couldn’t have stuck around for five minutes to explain…” He realized everyone was looking at him and cleared his throat, looking oddly awkward for someone who didn’t seem to get embarrassed by much of anything. 

The metacrisis Doctor stepped closer to Rose, whispering in her ear. 

“I  _ what _ ?!” she shrieked, whirling on him.

“You didn’t mean to,” Jack said. “I don’t blame you.” 

“Blame her for  _ what _ ?” Donna asked, completely lost and starting to get a little annoyed about it. 

“Apparently  _ I _ turned Jack immortal!” Rose said loudly. “But I don’t remember it―“ She spun on the Time Lord. “Jack  _ died _ ?! You said he was rebuilding the earth!” 

The Doctor looked away, scratching a sideburn. “Didn’t know for sure he  _ wasn’t _ doing that…” 

The look Donna gave him was truly inspirational in the layers of judgment. “You knew he was alive, immortal, and you just… You just left him?” 

“To be fair, I  _ also _ died!” The Doctor said, and then muttered, “Admittedly, also not permanently…” 

“Apparently I’m very upsetting to Time Lords,” Jack said. “Fixed point in a living person. Gives them a hell of a headache.” 

Donna looked at him. “You seem fine to me.” She glanced over at the metacrisis Doctor. 

He shrugged one shoulder. “More of a memory for me. Like how you can’t really look at ceviche the same way after you got food poisoning from that one bad batch.” He saw Jack’s face and muttered a quick, “Sorry.”

“Well, as fun as this is…” Jack straightened up, giving his coat a quick tug. “Now that we’re all caught up, you all can just head back that way, get yourselves above the water level, and wait for my signal. Spoiler alert, the signal will be a flood. Just don’t forget to fish me out after. Drowning just to wake up trapped and drowning again is… not my favorite activity.” 

“We can’t just  _ leave _ you!” Rose said, rushing over and then hesitating.

Jack smiled and held out his arms, not about to turn down a hug. Rose jumped in. 

“It’s fine,” he said, and added a kiss to the top of her head. “It’s not my first rodeo.”

“That doesn’t make it better! If anything, it makes it worse!” Donna said.

“It’s really a last resort sort of plan, at best,” the metacrisis Doctor pointed out, still looking vaguely guilty. 

“Quite right.” The Doctor pulled out his glasses and started cycling through settings on the sonic. “We’ve barely had five minutes to even think, and you jump right to…“ He cleared his throat, concentrating pointedly. “I might be able to configure a beacon with enough amplification.” 

“How can I help?” Jack asked gamely. 

The Doctor looked up at him over his glasses. “Do you remember how to rig a deep sea relay?” 

Jack tried to look offended, ruined somewhat by Rose still hugged to his middle like a stuffed bear. “Is that a crack at my age? From  _ you _ ?” 

Donna looked up at the high ceiling. “I don’t care how old you are or aren’t― You’re not getting high enough unless someone turned you part spider monkey as well.” 

Rose turned to her. “What?” 

She gestured up. “A deep sea relay would need four points, hundreds of meters apart. At least two would need to be at the top of this cave with noticeably few ladders.” 

Jack shrugged. “I can climb. Worst case scenario I just… reset…” He cast a nervous look down at Rose.

“No need for that,” the metacrisis Doctor chimed in. “I can climb with you. Two-man rope team.” He pulled one arm across his chest, stretching, and turned to the Time Lord. “Still have that climbing gear in the left pocket?” 

“Don’t see why not. Never took it out.” The Doctor started fishing around, digging in past his elbow. 

“How many harnesses do you have?” Rose asked.

“Four? Six? It was a bit of an expedition,” the Doctor bent over, arm in nearly to the shoulder. 

Donna watched him go at it with a look like she didn’t even know what to start judging first. “Can you hand me a circuit board and some wire before you lose the arm?” 

He shot her a look, but reached into his other pocket and yanked out a handful of components, passing them over. She pulled a sonic screwdriver out of her pocket and started stripping two wires. 

“Where did you get that?” he asked. 

“Nicked it from the spare drawer. Thanks for thinking to give me one, by the way,” she rolled her eyes. 

“What ‘spare drawer?’ There’s no ‘spare drawer!’” He stopped digging to try to get a closer look at it and got a smacked hand instead. “Where did you get it?!” 

“I  _ just _ told you,” she said. 

“What if it’s not safe? Let me look at it!” 

“Oh, it’s fine! I know how to use a damn screwdriver.” 

“Hey, team, as fun as this is,” Jack broke in, “Wouldn’t it be even more fun if we were climbing at the same time?” 

The Doctor reluctantly resumed his hunt, finally producing a mess of rope and gear. Jack, Rose and the metacrisis Doctor started pulling it apart. 

“What are you doing?” the metacrisis Doctor asked Rose when she held some crampons up to her foot to estimate the size. 

“What does it look like?” She started strapping one on, testing the feel. 

“It looks like you don’t know you’re not coming.” 

“Why wouldn’t I be coming?”

“A two-man rope team is faster than a three-man rope team,” he pointed out. 

Rose gave him an unimpressed look. “What, you wanna race to see who makes the team? Bet I’ll win. I once dimension-jumped halfway up the Matterhorn. Managed to make it to basecamp in combat boots and a bomber. Think I can handle a little ice climb with proper gear.”

The metacrisis Doctor bent over to tie on his own crampons. “And what if one of us slips? Don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we both out-mass you by a good four stone. 

Donna scoffed, “Is  _ that _ your argument, you walking skeleton?” 

Both Doctors turned on her. 

“Hey!” 

“ _ Hey!! _ ” 

Rose just stood up and walked over to Jack. “May I?”

He cocked an entertained brow and allowed her to maneuver him into a fireman’s carry. She lifted him easily, turned in a tight circle and added a deadlift squat for emphasis. 

Jack started laughing and she had to put him down, but she turned to the metacrisis Doctor with a flourish. “I don’t see a problem.” 

The Doctor in blue looked a little flustered, but pointedly focused on his own straps. 


	3. Chapter 3

The climbing team set off at a brisk, but manageable pace. Jack led the way, with Rose in the middle, followed by the metacrisis Doctor. 

“No dying!” Donna called after them, as loudly as she dared. 

Jack made a funny little salute and carried on scaling. 

Donna turned back to the Time Lord to find him watching with an unreadable expression on his face. He caught her glance and looked away, his expression becoming more recognizable as ‘guilty.’ 

“What’s wrong?” she asked. 

He blinked at her. “Who said anything was wrong?” 

She pointed at his face. “That guilty mug.” 

He turned and started fiddling with some components, carefully not disrupting the spool that was slowly being unwound by the climbers. 

Donna watched him with narrow eyes, but decided not to comment, fusing some circuits together instead. 

After a few minutes of silence, she caught him flicking nervous looks her way. 

“What?” she huffed. 

“You’re not going to… make me talk to you?” 

She scoffed. “I’m not your therapist; I’m your…” She trailed off, waved a hand, and then resumed, “I’m not going to  _ make _ you do anything.” She busied herself with the circuits, which were becoming harder to manage as her fingers lost feeling. 

“Really?”

She snuck a look up at him through her fringe and found him staring suspiciously. “What?” 

“Why are you being nice to me?” he asked, like an accusation. 

“What? Don’t ask it like that! I’m nice to you!” 

“No you’re not!” he said, confidently. “You’re only nice to people you don’t know well enough to be yourself around. So  _ why _ are you suddenly being  _ nice _ to  _ me _ ?”

“You think I’m only nice to strangers?” Her voice went a bit shrill with indignation. 

The Doctor blinked at her. “I think you’re honest with people you trust. And you’ve always been honest with me.” He narrowed his eyes. “…But now you’re being careful. Why?”

Donna was glad for the cold, which kept her from blushing. “Well. Bit different now, isn’t it?” 

The Doctor’s expression turned unreadable. “How so?” 

“Well,” she blustered, “It’s all well and good having a shouty best mate, but that’s not… Well, it’s not exactly what you want in the bedroom, is it?” 

He cocked his head. “Are we no longer best mates?” He cast a suspicious look up toward his doppelgänger. 

“Well,” she huffed, “Might be a  _ bit _ more than that now.” 

Wide eyes flicked back down to her. “But… Still best mates? Right?” 

“Well,” she huffed again and felt her cheeks trying to turn in spite of the temperature, “Yeah.”

His face cracked into a smile, but it seemed to be habit more than intent. “Then why are you…?” 

She became very busy adjusting her sonic, which absolutely had to be held up to her face for the process. “Don’t want to scare you off, do I?” she mumbled. 

“You’re  _ my _ shouty and unnecessarily opinionated best mate! I  _ know _ what you’re like!” 

“ _ Oi! _ ”

He swept his arms out impatiently. “Why are you acting so strangely?” 

“Fine,” Donna said, and hesitated only a moment before spitting out, “Why do you keep looking at Rose and Jack like that?” 

His immediate regret was so palpable she could almost taste it. “What?” 

She barreled ahead. “You look like you miss them when they’re standing right there.” 

The Doctor gave her one of his blank looks that meant he was too distracted to put on a human-legible expression. 

Donna crossed her arms and waited for him to come out with it.

“It’s... odd,” he said slowly, “To see how they look at the other one. When he’s not looking.”

Donna glanced up and back, not saying anything.

“Like a glimpse into a parallel world,” he continued, without meaning to. “Gingerbread houses, you know?”

Donna started to ask how she could possibly know that, but her borrowed memories surfaced warnings about parallel worlds and the inherent temptations. 

“Oh,” she said. And didn’t ask any further questions. 

* * *

The climbers worked their way back down, arriving slightly out-of-breath, but fully intact. 

The first thing out of Rose’s mouth was a chittery, “It’s freezing!” 

“Below freezing,” Jack corrected. “Well below. It is  _ frigid _ down here!” 

“Warm air rises,” the Doctor reminded them, clicking through signals. 

“That’s really helpful, thanks,” the metacrisis Doctor said through chattering teeth. 

Jack pulled Rose and the metacrisis Doctor into a loose embrace, which they both immediately burrowed into. 

“Wow, you really  _ are _ human,” Jack said, looking quite pleased not to be pushed away. 

“It’s absolute rubbish,” the metacrisis Doctor grumbled, looking displeased by the circumstances, but all-too-willing to have an excuse to wrap himself up in warm limbs. 

“Best thing for cold is shared body heat,” Jack said casually. “Most effective with as few layers between as possible.” 

His eyes nearly popped out of his head when the metacrisis Doctor gamely unfastened his coat, pulling the sides out around Rose. 

Jack fumbled his own coat open with one hand, mirroring, and they all three burrowed in closer to trap the heat between them. 

“It’s not  _ that _ cold,” the Time Lord grumbled. 

It took him a beat to notice Donna’s lack of response, and when he turned to look, he found her eying the others with envy. He frowned, looking properly for the first time in awhile. She was shaking nearly continuously. 

“How long have you been shivering like that?” 

“How long have we been in here?” she asked rhetorically, teeth chattering. 

He put a hand on her cheek and she flinched away, chattering harder. “C-cold sk-skin!”

“Sorry,” he mumbled, trying to rub some warmth into his hands. It was an entirely fruitless endeavor. “Lower body temperature.” 

“‘Sokay,” Donna said, burrowing into her coat. 

“Want to jump in with us?” Rose offered. 

Donna gave the Doctor a guilty side glance that he wasn’t sure what to make of. 

“Why are you looking at me?” he asked. “ _ I  _ certainly shouldn’t get in.” 

She cast a longing glance over at the others, but forced her eyes back to him. “You wouldn’t mind?” 

He frowned. “Mind what? Go get warm! Here―“ He fished a shiny emergency blanket out of one pocket and passed it to her, carefully avoiding touching her hand. “Should help trap the heat.” 

“Oh now that  _ Donna’s _ cold it really  _ is  _ cold,” the metacrisis Doctor mocked. “Typical.” He cocked his head toward Donna, “Come join the party!” 

Donna hopped in between Rose and the other Doctor without needing further coaxing. 

“This is much better,” Donna moaned, burying her face in Rose’s shoulder, and pulling the metacrisis Doctor’s arms around like a second skin. “Let’s go everywhere like this.” 

“No objections here!” Jack said, looking far too happy for someone a few thin layers of fabric away from hypothermia. He tucked Rose under his chin like a living hot water bottle and managed to get his arms around all three of them. 

After a few minutes of just letting the temperature distribute, Rose shifted, trying to tuck her legs closer. “How long until the beacon works?” 

“Shouldn’t be long,” the Doctor answered, standing just far enough away to avoid leaching warmth. 

“You know, there’s an even better way to share body heat,” Jack hinted shamelessly. 

“Donna has a thing about hands,” the metacrisis Doctor said.

“Well,” Donna mumbled, sneaking a look up through her fringe, “Let’s not rule anything out _ … _ ” 

“Donna’s eased up on the ‘hands’ thing lately,” the Time Lord said absently. 

All four humans turned to look at him. 

He blinked at them over the rim of his glasses. “What?”

“Want to see how far we can take it before he catches on?” Jack suggested. 

“He’ll figure it out,” Donna said, unconvincingly. “Just give him a minute.” 

The Doctor squinted at her. “ _ What? _ ”

“Hmm,” Jack hummed, speculatively, pulling Rose even closer and stroking up the inside of the metacrisis Doctor’s wrist. 

Rose giggled. “Jack!” 

The metacrisis Doctor carefully shifted his hips back. “Not  _ now _ !”

Jack gave him a look that could have melted ice caps. “Just not  _ now _ ?” He ducked his head down to stage whisper to Rose. “This one really  _ is _ human, huh?” 

The Time Lord sniffed absently and then more pointedly. “Oh for― Jack, knock that off!” 

Jack gave him a winsome smile. “You’re more than welcome to join.” 

A cacophony of buzzing cut off whatever the Doctor planned to say to that. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to Quercusrobur for reading through this chapter and helping me get it into something like coherent English for once.

The ice bear was (grumpily) coaxed out of the way; the village council was very happy not to have to figure out how to winter in the caves; and the humans and Time Lord were all escorted back to their blue box with some lovely orange furs that the ice bears apparently shed in the spring.

Immediately upon re-entry, the TARDIS took a quick scan and turned up several warm vents, flipping a heat lamp apparatus down from the ceiling and earning appreciative groans from all humans. 

“I love this ship,” Jack sighed happily. 

The Doctor moved around them, rubbing briskly at his own hands in an attempt to speed up a return to touch-tolerable temperatures. “Right then. Where to next? Cardiff?” 

Jack froze in his full-body stretch, hesitating for just a moment before straightening back out. “Fair’s fair. You remember the date?” 

“Well, you don’t  _ have _ to go,” Rose said. “Do you?” She looked over at the Doctor in blue. 

“We could show you the rest of the ship,” the metacrisis Doctor offered. “Or have another trip. Maybe somewhere warm this time,” he hinted, loudly. 

Jack looked genuinely startled. “Thought I reminded you of food poisoning.” 

Both Doctors winced, and the metacrisis Doctor mumbled, “Just an  _ analogy _ …”

Jack turned to the Time Lord who shrugged, carefully maintaining his distance. “I’ve asked you to come before.  _ You _ turned  _ me _ down.” 

Donna reached for his hand, but yelped, recoiling from the cold with a full-body shiver. 

The Doctor glared harder, rubbing his hands together vigorously. He turned to Jack, “Well?”

Jack blinked at him. “Well what?” 

“Cardiff or Vortex?” he asked impatiently. 

Jack blinked again. “You’re saying I could stay?” 

The Doctor’s annoyed look shifted into confusion. “Course you could,” he said, like he couldn’t imagine why that needed saying. 

Jack turned to Rose for confirmation he hadn’t just hallucinated that, and Donna took the momentary distraction to press a quick kiss to the Time Lord’s cold, hard mouth. She pulled back with a violent shiver before he could do more than startle. 

“Suppose I don’t have to head back right away,” Jack said, refocusing the Doctor’s attention. “Not really rushed for time over here.” 

He tensed as he said it, but the Doctor just nodded, starting the dematerialization sequence.

They shifted into flight and then steadied, floating in the familiar vortex. 

“Right,” the Doctor said, clapping his hands, “It’s been a few hours so I assume you humans all need something. Which is it, food or sleep?” 

“Showers,” Donna, Rose, and Jack answered in unison. 

“Again?? Didn’t you  _ just _ have those?” 

“ _ Before _ trekking through a bunch of caves,” Rose reminded. 

The Doctor looked at Donna. “Is that why your heart rates are up?” 

“Right,” Donna said, ignoring that. “I think I might actually have a bath. Nice hot soak.” She paused, waiting, and then gave the Doctor another look, which he returned with further confusion. 

“What?”

Donna rolled her eyes over to the others and loudly said, “Well, off I go!” before heading out with a swish. 

The Doctor watched her leave and then turned back to the humans to find them all staring at him expectantly. “What?” 

The metacrisis Doctor coughed, Rose laughed, and Jack looked inappropriately entertained. As usual. 

“What??” the Time Lord repeated. 

Jack crossed his arms, smirking. “Think she might want you to join her, Doc.” 

The Doctor scoffed. “Jack, Donna knows as well as you that  _ I _ don’t need baths.” 

His duplicate scratched at the back of his head, avoiding eye contact for some reason. “No, I’m pretty sure Jack’s right.”

The Doctor frowned. “What’s gotten into all of you?” 

Jack and the metacrisis Doctor took deep breaths like they were about to launch into something, but Rose cut in before they could. “Why don’t you just head back and see? Just, y’know, in case.” 

The Doctor squinted at her. “In case of  _ what _ ?”

“Just go!” All three humans shouted. 

The Doctor decided to follow Donna. If only to escape the shouting. 

* * *

“Well, that’s adorable,” Jack said, watching the Time Lord scamper off after the ginger. He turned to Rose. “Is everything this adorable now?” 

Rose leaned in, grinning. “He’s really softening up in his old age, isn’t he?”

“Excuse me,” the metacrisis Doctor interrupted, archly. “What’s  _ that _ supposed to mean?” 

Rose turned a Look on him. “‘Curse of the Time Lords’ ring any bells?” 

The metacrisis Doctor huffed, tugging at his lapels. “Well that’s―“ He switched to his cuffs. “That hardly applies to  _ me _ now, does it?” He didn’t seem to know where to put his hands and decided, as usual, that the most logical solution was to hold hers. He reached for Jack as well, pulling them toward one of the lounges. 

Jack followed along without protest, blinking down at his hand like he wasn’t quite sure who it was attached to. 

The human Doctor ducked through the first door, which turned out to be the lounge that looked a bit like a speakeasy. 

“This place really is a trip,” Jack said, tracing the outline of a water stain where he’d used to put his drinks next to his favorite rolled-arm loveseat. 

“The TARDIS is spoiling you,” the Doctor in blue said, sprawling out on the loveseat in question. Rose perched next to him and he tugged her half into his lap. 

“Doctor!” She half-heartedly complained, laughing. 

“I’m still cold!” he said defensively. “Aren’t you cold? This way we’ll both be less cold!” He pushed one leg up under hers for emphasis. 

“Just being considerate, huh?” She smiled at him like he was the cutest thing she’d ever seen. 

The human Doctor glanced away and became immediately distracted by the half-finished device Jack had picked up. “So that’s where that went! How did it get in here?”

He held out a hand and Jack brought it over. “I was fixing it,” Jack said, trying to do the mental maths on how many centuries ago that had been. 

The metacrisis Doctor took advantage of his distraction, tugging him down into the loveseat with them. “I was looking for this!” he tutted, turning it over in his hands. 

Jack wasn’t quite sure whether he should be expected to apologize for not knowing he was going to be abandoned back when he’d brought the thing in there to tinker with. 

He decided not saying anything was the better part of valor. 

The human Doctor was busy poking around the electronic. “What’s this bit here?” he asked curiously. 

Jack looked at the indicated section. “External conduit,” he said, half-guessing. And resisting the urge to remind him that it had been several centuries since he’d seen that thing. 

The Doctor in blue didn’t seem to notice his tone, too busy poking around. “Is that how you kept the coils from fragmenting?”

Jack shrugged. “Seemed like as good a way as any.” 

Brown eyes flicked up, filled with that oddly innocent wonder. “This is brilliant!” He beamed.

Butterflies that should have died centuries ago started up in Jack’s chest. “Just a little hot-wiring,” he said. 

The human Doctor grinned like the sun coming out. “You really are clever.” He turned to Rose before Jack could fully process that. “Isn’t this clever?” he asked her. 

Rose looked down at the mess of wiring and back up. “Wow,” she said, drily, but still smiling. 

The human Doctor didn’t seem to notice, holding it up for her to see better and pointing out key features. Rose let him ramble on, smiling indulgently and occasionally winking at Jack when he turned to confirm something. 

“…Do you think?” the metacrisis Doctor asked.

Jack blinked, realizing he’d stopped listening. “Uh,” he said, glancing at Rose. 

Rose grinned back. “You’d be up for working on the TARDIS, wouldn’t you?” she prompted helpfully. 

Jack considered how much trouble he’d be asking for if he kissed her for it. “I think I could be talked into it,” he said and leaned in, hooking an arm over blue shoulders. “You scratch my back, I scratch yours?” he suggested, smiling winsomely. 

Where the Time Lord would have probably elbowed him off, or possibly not even noticed the advance, the part-human Doctor gave him a quick look up and down, and seemed to go a bit flustered. 

Jack smiled wider and extended his reach to curl two fingers through Rose’s hair. 

No one pushed him off and they carried on chatting about repairs like they’d jumped back in time.

“Ah, there you are!” the Doctor said loudly, making them all jump and turn toward the door. He waltzed in, pulling a faintly protesting Donna. “What have you got there?” he asked, and plucked the device out of his duplicate’s hands without waiting for an answer. “Is this― I was looking for this!” 

“Jack was fixing it,” the metacrisis Doctor said, snatching it back, but turning it over to show the modifications. “See what he did here?” 

“Oh, that is  _ clever _ !” the Doctor chirped, and turned that same megawatt grin on Jack. “You  _ are _ clever!” 

Donna poked at it with one freshly-painted nail. “Is that a racdon casing?“ She shot a glance up at the immortal. “Beauty  _ and _ brains? Have to keep an eye on you.” 

Jack considered asking Rose to pinch him, but decided he’d actually like to enjoy the dream for a bit longer. He canted his head to indicate the metacrisis Doctor. “This one mentioned there might be some TARDIS repairs that could use my practiced touch.” 

The Time Lord flicked a glance up, face splitting into a manic grin. “Brilliant! Shall we get started?” 

“We haven’t even showered yet,” Rose said, laughing.

“That’s fine, I’m used to this one smelling like a hamster by now,” the Doctor said and pulled his twin upright. 

“Like a  _ what?! _ ” the metacrisis Doctor objected. 

“A hamster,” the Doctor repeated, offering Jack a hand. 

“Donna??” The metacrisis Doctor turned to the ginger indignantly.

Donna grimaced. “You… might occasionally smell  _ a bit _ on the hamsterish side…”

“What?!” he squawked. 

“I keep telling you― Humans  _ have _ to shower  _ regularly _ .” 

“That’s what I’ve  _ been doing! _ ” 

“Clearly not the right schedule then.” The Doctor herded them all toward the door. “You can practice again after the repairs,” he suggested.

“You think I’m going to help you with repairs after you’ve just insulted me?!” 

“I thought you knew. How could you  _ not _ know?” The Doctor shrugged and switched his tactics to focus on the more easygoing immortal. “Jack, do you think you could hold the stabilizers steady while I work on the spatial matrix?”

“Um,” Jack said, “Sure?”

“Brilliant!” 

And it was, a bit. 

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote 'It Has Been 0 Days Since the Last Incident' without any intention of following it up (or writing it in the first place, if we're honest), but I accidentally got really into the idea of how nice it would be for all the favs to travel around together and now it looks like it's going to be a whole thing.  
> This story is basically a segue into another follow-up that I'm working out some final touches on so stay tuned for more posh adventuring.  
> 


End file.
